capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. let's get started at capella.edu we have after breaking news story to tell you about. apparently a plane has crashed into a building in new york

city. we have someone who apparently witnessed this event. jennifer, can you hear me? >> caller: hello? >> hi, can you tell me what you saw and any information you have? >> caller: it's quite terrifying. i'm in shock right now. i came out of the subway, i was heading to work, and i come out and i saw a big -- i looked up and there was a big ball of fire. i'm now looking north at the world trade center, and it is the west twin tower. i'm in battery park right now. you can here the emergency crews behind me, and when the fire first -- >> go ahead. >> i have never seen anything like this before, and i used to work in news, and i have never seen any fire like this, in the air, and they were flying down. it looks like it's the top --

the top maybe 20 floors, intense smoke. it's horrible, i can't even describe it. >> do you have any idea what kind of plane it was? >> what it was? >> yeah, i didn't even know that, i looked up and saw a big boom and fire. i have to tell you, we were all saying around here it was very interesting if it was a bomb that it would be so high up. perhaps it was a plane. we can't see a plane, but i have to tell you there are still things flying in the air. it's mind boggling and horrifying. >> jennifer, while you were close to the building, or have you, since the explosion, seen anyone injured being taken out of the building? are there ambulances dealing with people around the building?

>> i have not gotten that close. i have to tell you that my father works in the world financial center and i called over there to see if he was okay, i could not get through, and i'm far away right now, i thought it might be dangerous. i saw lots of debris coming down, and right now i'm battery park. it's probably a five minute walk from here to the world trade center, but the smoke is incredible. i can't see the top of the tower. >> we're looking at pictures right now, jennifer, with a huge gaping hole. >> yeah, i see major fire, i definitely see fire. >> jennifer, you said you're looking north at the buildings, so you're south of the building, is that right? we're looking at a picture looking at the north side of the picture. >> i'm on the exact opp

side. that's where you mention, toward the top of the building and on the north side. on what i think is the west side of the building, we also see holes there that could be damage. we hear it was a plane, but there is an enormous hole. >> can you tell us what you heard when you heard the explosion, describe it for us? >> when i walked out of the subway, i looked at the twin towers, i always look up there, and right when i looked up, there was a boom. it wasn't that loud, it wasn't huge, however, it was unbelievable the amount of fire. it was a big ball of fire that just went up. and i looked around at people and we were all horrified. i'm stuttering because i'm in such shock, i have never seen anything like it, it's horrible. >> this is real cause for

concern because the world trade center is one of the busiest office buildings with hundreds and thousands of workers. >> the governor has a new york city office there. >> and given the time this has happened, it's only, probably, appropriate to surmise that people might have been in the building. >> we have seen stories in the past where plane vs. hit buildings, small planes, and it would be hard to imagine that a small plane could create a hole like that in the world trade center. small planes tend to crumple and then fall down. again, we have not talked to anyone close to the base of the building. we don't know what kind of debris or wreckage. >> i'm talking to a police officer who heard it was a plane. >> does he have any information about what kind of plane it was or can he tell us any more details. >>ly put you on hold for one moment, okay? >> just to recap, if you're just

joining us, you're looking at dramatic pictures of new york's world trade center in lower manhattan where we're told that a plane crashed into the upper floors of the western most tower. you can see a gaping hole. that is on the north side of the building and you can see residual damage on the west side of that building and fires are burning right now in the world trade center. >> it's a real problem. in the 40th, a plane hit, in the 60s, a plane crashed -- >> right now we're getting information that it was a small commuter plane, and of course we'll let people know as soon as we get more information as to what actually caused this, and of course on everybody's mind who might have been hurt as a result of this terrible incident, we're going to talking

to more eyewitnesss coming up. >> another one just hit, a very large plane just flu directly over my building. u can actually. but mr. single miles can't join his friends because he's getting hit with blackouts. shame on you. now he's stuck in a miniature nightmare. oh, thank you. but, with the capital one venture card... you can fly any airline, any flight, any time. double miles you can actually use. what's in your wallet? alec jr? it was a gift.

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we're back, at 9:00 eastern time on this tuesday morning, and we have dramatic pictures of an ax that happened a short time ago. you're looking at the world trade center where we're told that a plane, some reports say that it was a small commuter plane crashed into the upper floors of one of the swin towers. you see flames and smoke billowing from that tower. you see a gaping hole on one side, and the west side on the right side of your screen also have damage. this happened just before the

morning commute. some people were already at work. immediately there is speculation or cause for concern. this was the center of a terrorist bombing some we'res ago. was this purely an accident, or could it have been an intentional act. either way, extensive damage has been done. >> and it looks like smoke out of the east side. >> obviously horrified commuters were devastated when they heard this explosion, we talked with somebody about that a minute ago, and elliott walker who is a producer here on the today show, elliott, can you here me? >> yes, hi. >> what did you see? >> caller: i was walking down the sidewalk, i live in the area, delivering my young daughter to school, and we heard a very loud sound, the kind you hear when a plane is, you know,

going fast past you. followed by an enormous crash. and an immediate explosion. i don't think we could feel shock waves but we felt like we did. and we're in a position where we could see the trade center almost immediately and an enormous fire ball that was probably 300 feet across happened immediately, a secondary explosion, and then plumes of smoke. now, from where i was on the street a moment ago, you can see smoke leaving the building on three sides. it seems to be coming out on four or five floors. the air is filled with hundreds of pieces of paper floating like confetti. the area is swarmed with emergency vehicles. >> have you, of course because

of the incident that occurred in the early 1990s, have you seen any evidence of people being taken out of the building. you say emergency vehicles are there, but the major concern is human loss. do you know if there were many people in the building. another one just hit, something else just hit. there's been another collision, can you see it? something else has just hit -- >> we just saw a plane circling the other building. we just saw them circling the building. >> i think there was another impact, can you tell. i just heard a very large impact that just flu past my window and i think it may have hit again. >> i didn't get the impression it was that big of a plane. >> looked big from here. >> i saw a plane go by a second go though and it has now impacted the building.

i'm trying to see is it the different tower? >> yes, it looks from what i'm seeing it may have been the second building. >> this is a piece of tape, and we may see another plane enter the picture here. >> i wonder if there are air traffic control problems. >> fener with, did you see this happen? >> hello? >> did you just see this happen happen? >> caller: it looks like a movie, i saw a large plane like a jet go directly into the world trade center, it just flew into the other tower coming from south to north, i washed the plane fly in, it was a jet, a large plane. it went past battery park, it went in. >> this is so thoking of course to everybody watching. >> caller: i have never seen anything like it, it literally

flew itself into world trade center. >> there it is right there. >> again, i'm looking from south to north, and it went into the one on the right. >> that appeared to be at least a 727. here comes the video tape we just showed you. you will see what appears to be a large airplane, it flies right into the side of the world trade center. >> it was at least a 727. it was a jet. i could not believe my eyes. >> and now you have to move to talk about a possible accident to talk about something deliberate that has happened here. we're going to check with air traffic control in the area to see if they had contact with either of the planes before the accident. what we have just seen is about the most shocking video tape i have ever seen. >> the scene down here is incredible. people are out of their office

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it's completely impossible to understand what's happening, and to figure out what in the world is going on. >>. >> it's now after 9:00 a.m., and i wonder how many people were in those offices. >> hopefully they were evacuated, and it was a very short period of time from when

we first learned about it. it was probably 8:50 eastern time, the second incident was about 9:05. we have another witness on the ground, can you hear me? >> caller: yes, hello. >> please tell me what you're seeing. >> i live in lower manhattan and i face the north tower. there's a lot of chaos, a lot of emergency vehicles. everyone is exited and walking north, there is just massive amounts of people walking uptown north manhattan. i saw people waving where the first plane crashed through, and then it was unbelievable, seeing the second jet come crashing into the second tower.

what is going on? >> unfortunately here in new york, many of our stations cannot see this, local stations, because the antennas are on the world trade center. >> i just want to say something. we're looking at a picture that it appears because of the angle that the towers are leaning, and i don't think that is actually the case, because after the first impact, it looked as if the right-hand tower was leaning, and now somebody is saying -- a witness is saying they are leaning. that will give you an idea of the type of impact. >> perhaps they are buckling under the force of the collision. >> we're going to george right now who also witnessed these collisions, can you hear snus. >> caller: i can hear you. >> what did you see? >> i informs a car driving north

on west street when an enormous explosion happened. it was larger than a construction explosion. i looked out and something smashed the car to the right of me. it was so scary and there was some of debris falling. and i jumped out of the car and i ran away because i have thought there would be further explosions. >> have you seen anyone injured on the ground, george? >> a man next to me was hit by a piece of debris, and they said someone was badly hurt in a car head of me, i can't verify that. a lot of debris was falling and it was very confusing because everybody assumed that a bomb had exploded, and that's had people thinking that further

boxes have exploded. >> did you see the second plane fly into the other tower? >> there was a first explosion that was louder, and then a second explosion, but i did not see that, and i looked up and when i looked up i saw debris falling and a very large tire. >> this is, of course as we said, completely shocking video, and a shocking turn of events. and we have been talking here that the first incident one might surmise it was an accident, and then to have a second, what appeared to be 727 jet. of course, the question of terrorist activity has to surface, and the question of whether this was an intentional terrorist act of some kind. >> we're in an area here where there are three major airports. you have newark, kennedy, and la

guardia. it's very unusual for a plane to get into the this area without being tracked or identified by air traffic control. you have to imagine if this plane was headed for the world trade center, there must have been someone trying to talk or communicate with that pilot. >> the smaller plane you can understand almost, but a large jet, completely -- >> let's rerack that video if we could down in the control room where we saw the jet flying into the building. >> and i was mistaken. i was looking in the distance and saw a small plane, to see this plane come into the picture, that is a big plane. and it's hard to imagine -- it's a 737 we're now being told. and flying directly into the midsection of the -- what would be the eastern tower.

>> needless to say, it's pandemonium, i'm sure, down there and we gathered that from even the eyewitnesss with whom we spoke and how terrifying this was for them to see. you can only imagine as you get closer to the twin towers, a new york land mark, what the scene must be like there. >> you talked about the buildings looking like they'll buckle, they're designed to have a two degree sway in either direction because of the height of the building and the stress, but that's probably more than they're equipped for. >> jane, can you hear me? >> caller: yes, i am near the world trade center, i was walking down here at 8:42, we saw a plane go into the building and smoke and fire came out of

one of the towers. about ten minutes ago, a second explosion in the second tower. lower down, that was not -- right now there is a huge gaping hole in one of the towers and the other building is on fire. the scene down here is incredible. people are in their office buildingings, watching, crying, and taking pictures. >> we want to mention that when the impact hit the first tower, we hope that people in the second were beginning to evacuate. especially if it was deliberate. >> although -- >> if you tried to go up, we have been upstairs in the towers, but to try to get down. >> the elevators would have been jammed, but if there was concern

that it was deliberate, you would hope they would immediately begin evacuation in the second tower. >> i just spoke with top officials with access to latest intelligence and they said "this was clearly terrorist related. no question about it." ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] 6 years old. then 7. going on 11.

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i'm milissa ray bherger, nearly 90 people are dead and 24 are wounded after a rash of violence in iraq. after the fugitive vice president was sentenced to death in an alleged murder blot. gas prices continue to spike in the u.s. according to a survey, prices are up eight cents in the last two weeks to an average of $3.84 a gallon. now back to "9/11 as it

happened." we've got another eyewitness we would like to speak with. dan is on the phone, tell me where you are and what you're seeing or what you saw? >> okay, what i saw was one plane coming in low from the north down over 7th avenue. it crashed into the middle of one of the towers. ten minutes later, u say saw plane crash into the other side of the tower at a lower level. it looked to be a small, you know, commercial plane, the first plane that i saw. it crashed into the top of the tower, and there was a huge fire ball, and there was a gaping hole in the side of the tower. as we were waiting outside and looking at it, another plane came in low, i believe from the other side, and hit the middle

of the other tower. i saw both planes, two separate planes crash into each tower. >> dan, again, the side of the planes, tell me about that. >> caller: i would say the plane was a mid-sized looked to be commercial airline. i don't know, i thought perhaps a commercial airline, mid-size, not a jumbo jet. >> this, of course, is unconfirmed, but we're getting information from an employee of united airlines, and we want to emphasize it's unconfirmed, but there's speculation that an american airlines plane was hijacked and crashed on purpose into the world trade center, and another plane, hijacked, was then flown into the second tower. we want to remind people of the

world trade center bombing that took place back in 1993, the product of a terrorist attack, the result of a terrorist attack that killed six people and injured more than a thousand. . matt, i though i you and al were working that day, i was at home in virginia watching in disbelief, and this feels like deja vu. >> that killed six and injured 1,000 and that happened in the garage of a basement. this was a direct hit on the upper section of the tower, the potential for injuries and death much larger. >> exactly, if they were hijacked and on route to another destination. bob kerr joins us now, are are you and what can you tell us? >> i'm at the north lawn on the white house, and the first thing we looked for here is if there

is any unusual activity out here, police or secret service present, people on the roof, that sort of thing. we don't see that as we speak. i did try to call the national security office here. as you know the president is in florida. we have been told he has been informed of this. i can tell you the white house national security staff that remains here is in a senior level meeting, and we're hoping to hear from them as soon as possible. katie, the reaction here to the pictures you're seeing and the initial pictures when they came up in what's called the lower press off here at the white house, was one of shock. people are just standing around television monitors looking at this. and when i say people i don't mean just the reporters, i mean the people in the office who work here at the white house. >> so very little information is coming out of the white house at this juncture. if the speculation is true about some kind of terrorist event,

this will be a major, major crisis for the bush administration. we have jim at the pentagon now, are you hearing any more information there. >> according to u.s. intelligence officials, there appeared to be no specific threat involving hijacking airliners or any attacks on buildings in the new york area. u.s. intelligence officials report this morning that there are, you know, they're constantly hearing about threats, possible terrorist threats against american targets worldwide. as far as they know this morning, they had no early indications that anything of this nation could have occurred. pentagon officials are calling this a terrorist attack. they say they have not yet ordered the scrambling of any military jets.

if national guard were to be scrambled in that area, that would be at the order of the governor. now, of course, the president does have the authority to scramble american military forces in defense, but there's a problem here. what now do you defend against exactly? if you put war planes in the air, there is always a danger they could misidentify a pilot's intention, although i believe according to officials here. >> i tell you tell you guys -- >> they're now off limits and restricted, so far the u.s. military and pentagon officials are scrambling to get as much information as they possibly can to determine what course of action, if any, the u.s. military would take. >> mick, they are describing this as a terrorist attack right now. >> there have some officials

calling this an obvious terrorist attack based on very preliminary information. the information that negligence officials are getting based on the attack and the horrifying video of the plane going into the power itself is a clear indication that this is not an accident. primary concern right now is protecting the american public in the new york area right now against any possible further attacks by the air. they have no indications there will be, but there is some concern that since this appeared to be such a highly coordinated attack, there may be other terrorist attacks that could be planned in new york or elsewhere. this is the worst case scenario for the counterterrorist planners. there were no firm indications

prior to this that anything like this could have happened. in terms of scrambling the u.s. military, it would be for protection for the time being and not necessarily even thinking right now about any kind of retaliation. >> all right, david gregly is now on the phones, david? >> yes, the president is about to begin an education event which is being cancelled. the event will go forward in so far is the president we expect momentarily will come out to make a statement about this. he was made aware on route from the hotel to the school, and then we're told he will quickly depart for washington. >> new york area airports have been closed. the lincoln tunnel has been closed here in new york. we're getting ready to listen to

the president. let's go back to jim, jim, you talk about counter terrorist measures in place, can you shed any light on this for us? >> well, katie, it's very difficult to -- for the u.s. military to respond to this kind of thing at, you know, right now. it's unclear exactly who is behind it, and if there are any other potential attacks or incidents like this, because this is obviously not been officially declared a terrorist attack, but all of the experts say no doubt about it, this was a coordinated terrorist attack. but who and why is very much unclear right now. and the problem with trying to then put planes in the air to try to prevent any further attacks, these are, after all, open air spaces for the most

part. and it's difficult for the u.s. military to simply scramble jets and put them in the air and then, according to officials there, and then do what? this area, of course, according to officials here is obviously declared off limits in terms of any air traffic. but right now, officials here are simply scrambling to find out first what happened, and what potential reaction the u.s. military could provide in terms of protection. possible further protection against any further potential attacks. >> and mick, it's important to note that if they were hijacked and carrying passengers, you can't shoot down a plane like that and the injuries you could cause on the ground. >> that's exactly right. and the president, as we said

earlier, does have the authority to scramble the military. the governor has the international guard at his december poe sal, he can do that, but again, officials are pretty much wondering exactly what to do in terms of protection and how. again, to the counter terrorism, this is absolutely the worst case scenario because they're s, not much they can do in terms of the after math. >> nick, we're scrambling for information here, i want to read that says two planes crashed into the towers of the world trade center on tuesday morning causing huge explosions and killing at least six people. cnbc said there was at least 1,000 injuries. both towers where thousands of people were where the scenes of a bombing in 1993. the fbi told the associated press it was foul play and not

an accident. a person that answered the phone reported by abc on the trading floor at interdealer broker, located thaer the top of the world trade center said we're blanking dieing. there was screaming and crying and a follow up answer was not answered. nick foulton said there was a plane flying over. jamie is on the telephone, our national correspondent, what can you tell us? >> i have just spoken to top u.s. officials with access to latest intelligence, and they said this was clearly terrorist related. no question about it, they said they could not give any further details now. not because they couldn't share it, but they just don't know yet. >> do they know, for example, if

a plane was in fact hijacked? >> caller: they would not answer that, i think they are just getting the earliest details and they're afraid of putting our misinformation. they said it was clearly terrorist related. today we have had a national tragedy. two airplanes have crashed into the world trade center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country. ss-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense.

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we're looking again at both towers of the world trade center where two planes have crashed into the towers. as you see, the tower on the lef was hit just above the midsection point. the tower on the right was hit up two thirds of the towers, but you see fires burning in both towers. we saw a videotape on -- we watched the second tape, the second plane hit the building. you'll watch it enter from the right portion of the screen, and then make contact with the left hand tower in what is shocking video. and here is comes right there. and you can see the impact on one side of the bidding and the damage coming out of another side of the building, and one can only imagine that that one

occurred shortly after 9:00 in the morning. how many people were in the building at the time of the impact. it's a large plane. we're told it was a 737. >> some kind of air bus is what the united worker told us, that apparently it was an american airlines plane that was hijacked. we must tell you we're trying to get as much trickling in, all of this is unconfirms and speculation of a terrorist attack is unconfirmed although that is what some pentagon officials are saying. let's go to president bush right now. >> unfortunately we'll be going back to washington after my remarks, secretary and the governor will take the podium to

discussion education. i would like to thank you for your hospitality. today we had a national tragedy. two airplanes have crashed into the world trade center in an apparent attack on our country. i have spoken to the vice president, the governor of new york, the director of the fbi and i ordered the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families and to conduct a full scale investigation to hunt down those who committed this act. now if you'll join me in a moment of silence. may god bless the victims and

their families. >> we'll go to andrea mitchell now who has more information on this tragedy. >> matt and katie, i spoke to a top u.s. official that says that early reports to our intelligence community and other officials within the administration are that this was a hijacked american airlines plane on route from boston to los angeles. one of the two planes they say was a hijacked american airlines plane. reports still news confirmation, but this is what the government is being told by officials tomorrow apparently. they're assuming and informed the president this is a terror attack. >> we have no information as to what term of the flight this plane was taken over, how much warning that traffic controllers my have had. >> exactly right. they have no other information, just that one of the two planes

was hijacked from boston on ruth to los angeles after it had been already in the air and on route. i was told on route to los angeles. so hijacked after it has taken off. they have short flights on that route, but this clearly is a terror attack. as you heard the president say. one of the things, math and katie we should understand is there was no specific threat to the u.s. government was aware of. no terror alert other than the worldwide caution that had been reissued in recent days because of the strife in the middle east. no alert coming from his organization, and as far as they know, as of this morning, as of this minute -- >> it appears this was a well coordinated bombing or terrorist

act because of the fact that two planes were used. substantial in size, and that they both hit the world trade center within 18 minutes of each other. let's go to at the pentagon are saying they are getting information that the american airlines flight 11, after it left boston apparently, was hijacked, and was diverted, apparently, the early information was, was being diverted to jfk for some reason. and then, obviously, nobody knows exactly who was at the controls of the plane. but it broke off its route to los angeles and was headed toward jfk. that was the initial information that officials had received. when obviously it did not go to jfk but veered off and headed toward the world trade center.

again, no indication as to who may be responsible or who was at the controls of that plane when it rammed into the world trade center. >> katie, i don't want to alarm anybody right now, but apparently it -- it felt, just a few moments ago, like there was an explosion of some kind here at the pentagon.

right now we want to talk with larry johnson, a terrorism expert and the former deputy director of the state department office on counterterrorism. mr. johnson, can you please put this in to some kind of perspective for us and give us your insight on what might have happened here? >> first we need to be cautious before jumping to conclusions that it's necessarily terrorism. i mean i would be inclined, based on preliminary reports that that's the case, but there's always the possibility you may find out after the fact this was a suicide pact that for some reason had nothing to do with politics. that said, this is a first. this is a very rare event. it's unlikely to be repeated but, president bush put his finger on it, we have to find who did this, in any country, any nation in the world that is

in any involved or responsible, if it turns out to be terrorism, will require a response from the united states. the united states has got to be willing to pay that price. >> mr. johnson obviously we were completely stunned when about 25 minutes after the first explosion, after the first plane crashed into one of the twin towers, another very large plane did the same thing. we've been talking with our correspondents all morning about, if another incident could happen on the heels of these two, what kind of measures are in place to prepare for something else that could conceivably happen? >> one of the steps already being taken -- i was at national airport getting ready to fly to la guardia when this occurred. they have shut down traffic going in and out of the city. apart from shutting down the air traffic, you're talking about an enormous disruption economically for the nation with the air traffic not going in. and people are going to err on the side of caution.

>> correspondents have also been saying, particularly bob kerr and jim miklaszewski and andrea mitchell, that there was no warning attached to this event. generally speaking, do we get some kind of, or do u.s. officials, government agencies, get some kind of warning from a particular group, or is this pretty -- i mean, fairly typical in terms of an event happening without any foreshadowing? >> no, katie, this unfortunately is typical. it's only in the movies you get the advanced warning. if you look at every major terrorist incident against the united states, whether you're talking pan am 103, the world trade center, the "u.s.s. cole" bombing, the bombing in saudi arabia, rarely do you get notice. >> sorry to interrupt you. jim miklaszewski has new information at the pentagon. i hope you'll stand by and continue to talk with us. >> reporter: katie, i don't want to alarm anybody right now, apparently it felt just a few moments ago like there was an explosion of some kind here at the pentagon.

we're on the e-ring of the pentagon, we have a window that faces out toward the potomac, toward the kennedy center. we haven't been able to see or hear anything after the initial blast. i just stepped out in the hallway. security guards were herding people out of the building and i saw just a moment ago as i looked outside, a number of construction workers who have been working here have taken flight. they are running as far away from the building as they can right now. i hear no sirens going off in the building, i see no smoke. but the building shook for just a couple of seconds, the windows rattled, and a security personnel are doing what they can momentarily to clear this part of the building. again, i have no idea whether it was part of the construction work, whether it was an accident or what is going on. we're going to try to find out those details and get them to you as soon as possible. but interestingly enough, one intelligence official here in

the building said, when he saw what appeared to be the coordinated attack on the world trade center, his advice was to stay away from the outside of the building today just in case. again, nobody has any indications of exactly what happened. but it appears that there has been some kind of -- it felt like a small blast of some kind. again, the windows shook. the building shook, the windows rattled. and people if i'm looking out the window now, and the construction workers are still keeping a good -- i'm sorry? the construction workers are still keeping a distance. that's all i can see and i see no other extracurricular security activity right outside. but to get more information, i'm going to have to break away and walk down the hallway and see what it is exactly that happened here just a few moments ago. >> mik, see what you can find out. please be careful and let us

know what's going on there. meanwhile, we're going to go back to david gregory who is in florida where president bush was earlier this morning. for an event on literacy, he was going to a school to talk with kids. david, what can you tell us? >> reporter: a little bit more about how this unfolded and what the president's going to do next. the president declared that this is an apparent terrorist attack and he offered a prayer for the families promised to hunt down in his words, people responsible for this. he will now travel back to washington, and aides are telling us now he will immediately convene a national security meeting to see what steps are taken next. >> david, i'm sorry to interrupt you. but we're looking at live pictures of the pentagon where there is billowing smoke. jim miklaszewski reported that he heard an explosion. and now we are looking at an aerial view of the pentagon. mik, can you talk to us? >> reporter: officially, nobody

knows exactly what happened. i think the picture is pretty clear. according to one u.s. army officer who went running past me at a full trot, he says that it appears that a bomb was detonated at the heliport. the heliport is a helicopter landing area next to the pentagon adjacent to the e-ring. the offices nearest the heliport area are u.s. army reserve officers and army reserve offices are located there. but as you can see, it appears to be a pretty significant blast. to give you some perspective, we are almost on the opposite side of the building, the world's largest office building, and as i have reported to you, we could feel the building shake and the windows rattle. as i was in the hallway just a few moments ago, i could smell

an acrid kind of smoke, the kind that almost what you would smell when a fluorescent light goes bad, that kind of ballast smell. authorities are clearing the building. >> u.s. intelligence sources are confirming the reports that one of the planes was a hijacked flight, an american flight from boston to los angeles. [ female announcer ] nature valley protein bars. 100% natural ingredients like roasted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of protein. so it's energy straight from nature to you. nature valley protein bars. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion.

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but it appears that in what -- i think that people here in the building are already describing as a highly sophisticated coordinated attack, not only against the world trade center, but against the pentagon and u.s. military right here in washington. >> mik, tell me again, i worked at the pentagon as well. and it is a huge building and miles and miles of offices. at what location did this seem to have detonated? >> it is at the heliport, the heliport which is as you sit in the pentagon, you have the potomac river and washington, d.c., on one side, and the heliport is located almost exactly on the opposite side of the building. along one of the highways. easily accessible, even though they have increased security here significantly at the pentagon within the past couple of years, that area -- >> i want to mention to you that we are hearing, again, unconfirmed reports that this

was the result of a plane crashing in the area as well. >> reporter: i have no idea, katie. all i know is that people who were in the building who came running from that part of the building thought it was a bomb of some kind. according to chris brown, my colleague who just came in, it appears that whatever it was, and perhaps it was a plane, katie, if those are the initial reports, crashed into or the damage is on the roof of the building at the heliport side of the pentagon which is just opposite of the potomac river as i just said. >> we are looking at the white house, mik, because we're learning that there have been some evacuations from the white house. i'm assuming that everyone is being evacuated from the pentagon? >> reporter: well, nobody's given us the official word yet. but i think that is probably a safe bet.

thank goodness that was a helicopter that just flew by. i'm just a little nervous right now when you hear aircraft go past. they have in fact, evacuated that portion of the building. usually they have sirens going off in the building alerting you to the fact that it's time to get out. i haven't heard those yet, but judging by the pictures, it is clear that that part of the building, that is not damaged at least, has been evacuated. like i said, in the hallway, it was pandemonium. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: people were rushing from their offices, rushing outside. >> and you are in your office at the pentagon right now reporting to us? >> reporter: i am in the office, but i'm at the opposite side of where this crash occurred. >> all right. why don't you see if you can gather more information and please be careful, and we're going to go to matt who's going to be talking with jamie. >> yes, thank you. i am joined by tom brokaw and we are going to recap on what's

been going on in new york and washington, d.c. in a few moments. we want to go to jamie with some more information. jamie? >> reporter: matt i just want to tell you that u.s. intelligence sources are confirming the reports that one of the planes was a hijacked flight, american flight from boston to los angeles. they are also now looking into what is going on at the pentagon, and they don't have any details, but they have now put government buildings around the city of washington on a heightened state of alert. i think that part of that is happening formally, but obviously people are seeing what is going on, and some people are leaving buildings as well simply because of the concern following these latest reports from the pentagon. >> we have this as a major development. the federal aviation administration has shut down all air traffic nationwide.

this country has been immobilized by these terrorist attacks in terms of air travel today, and we don't know where it goes from here. we'll just ask that you stay with us so that as we get hard information we can share that with you. i'm freaking out man.

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let's try to recap. it is 9:47 eastern time and try to recap what's going on so far this morning. the news is terrible. just before 9:00 -- >> at 8:42, actually. >> at 8:42 a plane crashed into the right-hand tower of the world trade center three- quarters of the way up. and you can see the smoke billowing from the building and then 18 minutes later a large plane, and we saw it on tape hit the left-hand tower of the world trade center about halfway up

and enormous fireball on several sides of the building, and there's a tip on the second plane hitting the second building as people were trying to get out of the first building. we have confirmed reports right now that there was one hijacked flight, american airlines, from boston to los angeles and that is apparently one of the planes used in this crash. >> terrorism always has two prongs to it. the physical threat and now the psychological threat. this does seem to be surreal, but in fact, it is real when you have an explosion of undetermined origin at the pentagon and the most conspicuous symbol of american capitalism, the twin trade towers here in new york, two deliberate attacks on those towers today and we don't know for sure who is responsible. >> and the u.s. capitol, also has been evacuated. there have been evacuations taking place at the white house. needless to say many people in the pentagon have left that building as well. >> airports in new york -- >> and in this building in

midtown new york they have asked people at 30 rockefeller plaza to leave, which is another high-rise building which in new new york. i came down the length of manhattan and a lot of people were unaware of what happened. as you tuned into the radio, they began to get it. it is election day here in new york. >> primary day. >> and what we have is something that most americans thought could never occur. >> we have this as a major development. the federal aviation administration has shut down all air traffic nationwide. this country has been immobilized by these terrorist attacks in terms of air travel today. we don't know where it goes from here. we will ask that you stay with us so that, as we get hard information, we can share that with you. there's going to be a lot of speculation, and the president has described this apparently as a terrorist attack, and the fbi has confirmed that american airlines flight from boston to los angeles was hijacked and believed that is the first plane that went into the twin trade towers. >> let's go to james kallstrom, the former director of the fbi here in new york.

i'm sure you have never seen anything like this. do you have any information that might be helpful to us? >> not particular information on this tragedy, but certainly what an incredible tragedy, and, you know, all of us in law enforcement and prior in law enforcement have talked for years, and the public have seen the hatred in the world and seen the bombing of the world trade center and the conspiracy to blow up the tunnels and the united nations and the fbi building in the '90s and the bomb of the "u.s.s. cole" and the bombings of the embassies in africa. and we have known for some time that the hatred exists, and now it looks like it has culminated in this absolutely horrendous, incredible ability. >> if you could stand by, because jim miklaszewski at the pentagon has more information for us. mik. >> reporter: katie, my colleague, chris brown here at the pentagon, encountered some

of those who survived whatever it was, all it was a bomb or an airplane crashing into the pentagon. one of the survivors who was reportedly injured had various lacerations, was on the second floor of the d-ring which is one ring inside of the outer ring of the pentagon, when suddenly, there was a horrific blast and he said that the second floor buckled upward, and then the third floor above him actually collapsed downward. the scene on the other side of the building, as it is being described to us, there are people being removed on stretchers, and security forces are evacuating the building right now. and according to the officials here at the pentagon, they still don't know exactly what it was, but as you reported, katie, eyewitnesses reported that in fact it was a plane that crashed into the pentagon. >> and mik, any idea -- i wasn't quite sure if you said this about the number of people who might have been hurt or worse in this?

>> reporter: no idea at all, katie. as you know having worked here on any given day, this is a small city and 25,000 to 30,000 people may be working here at any one time. that portion of the pentagon, by the way, had just been remodeled and just reopened. if the crash had occurred just a few months ago, that section of the pentagon would have been virtually empty. but at this time of day, early morning, or mid-morning, the pentagon is very busy and it is impossible to say how many there have been a large number of people cited being removed on stretchers.

and the scene was one of administrators, cooks, running at fairly high speed, all the way out of the building through administrators, crooks, whatever running at fairly high speed. all the way out of the building through the top gates. then we huddled for a while in lafayette park across the street and we have been moved now from there, a block or so away. the offices along jackson place, which are across the street from the white house anded a jay sent to lafayette park have also been evacuated. in the most surreal of the morning's scenes at the white house, a white plane, a very big jet, was flying in an unusual pattern near the white house over lafayette park, very

slowly. one circle and we have not seen it since. there was a lot of concern about what that plane might be. again, it's only speculation. most people say that since flights have been cleared from u.s. air space and it was totally white plane, looked unusual to all of us that it was a government plane of some kind. >> we somehow point out we are looking at pictures, as we speak of the world trade center because all of the camera crews have been evacuated from the white house as well. when do you expect president bush to arrive there, bob? >> katie, he's coming back directly. you figure it is a two-hour flight. you can do the math. the reason i said it that was so surreal is that within -- about 20 minutes ago they were still conducting tours. you have hordes of tourists and others still in the white house on tour, lining up outside to get in. there seems to be absolutely no

unusual activity outside of the white house until word came of the incident at the pentagon. so it's been quite a dramatic shift here. >> we just saw live picture of what seemed to be a portion of the building falling away from the world trade center. alright, you ready kevin? and... flip! whoa! did you get that? yep, look at this. it takes like 20 pictures at a time. i never miss anything. isn't that awesome? uh that's really cool. you should upload these. i know, right? that is really amazing. pictures are so clear. kevin's a handsome devil. that phone does everything! search dog tricks. okay, see if we can teach him something cool. look at how lazy kevin is.

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does breathing with copd weigh you down? ask your doctor if spiriva can help. ♪ >> this is a task for investigators of extraordinary magnitude to try to determine who did this and how they got away with it. you think about an american airlines flight that was on its way from boston to los angeles was hijacked in midair. they are now citing transmissions from the plane so they have hard evidence of that. and brought down here and made to fly in to the twin trade towers. did one of the hijackers get control and shoot the pilot? it boggles the mind beyond our ability to figure out what was going on. >> you talk about transmissions, i was curious, have you had any evidence. >> they said they are citing transmissions to know the plane had been hijacked.

that's all they are saying a this point. we want to remind everyone, once again, this is an exceptional development. the faa has banned all takeoffs at all airports across america. this country in terms of air travel has been immobilized. a gad portion of the nation's capital, the most power center in the world has been immobilized, as well. >> we just saw a live picture of what seemed to be a good porg of the building falling away from the world trade center with the. if we can rerack that to 20 seconds ago, you will see something dramatic happening. i don't know if it is another explosion or a portion of the building falling away but something major just happened at this building. >> here we go to the tape. >> we have the tape. >> watch what happens in the left hand tower. i don't know if this is the correct tape. there. something there is about to happen. falling away right there. >> that looks like a big chunk

of it just peeled away. >> one can only hope the area has been evacuated but of course you wonder about all the emergency vehicle answer the people that might have been injured early in the morning. these pictures are beyond belief. >> we have a report that the second plane may have flown out of newark, new jersey. this an official who was speaking on the condition of anonymity. there is no confirmation of that. we just know there were two planes that went in. the first was the american airlines flight from boston to los angeles. we are now seeing it from the harbor view of this continuing damage structure to the world trade center. >> one of the flights 45 minutes later was diverted to the world trade center. >> let's go back to a few seconds ago. this is now an hour after the first impact.

we saw dramatic footage of one the towers apeering to fall away from the rest of the building. can we go to the tape now? the building collapsed. that tower just came down. >> the consequences go on. not just to the world trade center and the poor people who with were trapped and caught there, but of course that's the heart of the world financial markets which have been shut down effectively, as well. the ripple effect continues this morning as we all try to adjust psychologically an intellectually to what we are witnessing here. it is difficult to comprehend but this country, the strongest dmunt the world has been the target of a major coordinated terrorist attack and the end is not over yet. even if it is confined to just these three targets, the ripple effect goes on. >> who knows the human toll that will be the result of this action? matt actually just pointed out

to me on any given day 50,000 people work at the world trade center. >> at 8:45 many in the morning if they are not in the building they are around the building. these a beehive of activity down. there there's no more active area in terms of pedestrian traffic. >> a woman who saw the collapsed of the trade towers. tell me what you saw. >> on the corner of west broadway and walking toward the twin towers it just collapsed. looks like the building demolished, smoke, clouds of smoke everywhere. people running towards me. i was going toward the twin towers. people were going away from the towers and it was just people running like i've never seen a scene like it. >> can you give me an idea of the reaction of people down there, mina. pedestrians. >> everyone in tears. people -- i met a woman which with was in the building to the

right of the -- where the first thing happened. and just all crying. wondering if people in the buildings next door are okay sglft. >> mina, take care of yourself. our national correspondent is on the phone with more information, jamie. >> reporter: katie as you well know, buildings around town are being evacuated. the state department has been evacuated. the white house has been evacuated and the pentagon has been evacuated. intelligence officials tell me they do believe at the pentagon that was a third plane going down. they have had the intelligence sources that i have talked to say they have not received any claims of responsibility yet. >> have you gotten any information in to air traffic in the area. or anybody who might have traced this plane or figured it out

where it came or where it was going. >> we don't have those details yet. it is almost impossible. they were confused for a long time as to whether it was a bomb or a plane. they saw say now it appears to be a plane but they say that is all the information they have. >> you know, it goes without saying this is the most serious attack on the united states in more than 100 years. not since the war of 1812 and the damage we did to ourselves during the civil war has this country suffered the kind of damage in its interior. obviously pearl harbor was horrific event as well but never an event to match the magnitude of this one in which everything has been shut down in terms of air traffic, the national capitol is immobilized, white house, state department, the pentagon has been attacked. the financial markets have been shut down. there's an untold loss of life.

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here's what is happening. president obama rallied voters in the battleground state of florida today. the second day in a the sunshine state. the latest poll shows obama ahead of romney by four points. mr. romney is not on the campaign trail today but making news on "meet the press" this morning. he said there are parts of president obama's health care law he does like but the provisions for preexisting conditions. now back to 9/11, as it happened. >> it's 7:15 and for those just

joining us, american airlines flight 511, from boston to l.a.x. was crashed in to one of the world trade center buildings, 15 minutes later another plane hit the other one. that building has now collapsed. within an hour of those two attacks, the pentagon was hit now we're told by a plane. an untold number of casualties there. president bush was on the air saying it was a terrorist attack. carefully coordinated from the air and the consequences of it in terms of human loss and the affect on the country are to be determined. what we are worried about now is the other building may come down. they have obviously evacuated the area as a result of the crash of 1 world trade center. now i'm tlold is concern about the second one collapsing, as well. we are told the spokesman for

yasser arafat, the lead other the pla pla, palestinian liberation and he condemned it scene said they are shocked an appalled by what is happening. it was an earlier report that. we don't know who is response able for this it was carefully planned and coordinated and fair to say it has been devastatingly efficient and effective attack on a part of this country. >> let's go to pat dawson down by the world trade center. >> there are probably, at this stage, i would say hundreds, perhaps in the thousands of emergency workers in the last hour and a half have managed to work their way down here to lower manhattan.

we have ten to 12 blocks from the world trade center. these firefighters are walking down towards the site now. they literally have been arriving by the dozens over the past hour or so. as we say, probably in excess of 1,000 or more emergency workers from new york city and surrounding areas converging on this site now to try to make some sense of it. as you can imagine, at this point, there's a certain level of chaos because they are trying to sort out who's alive and who's not. when i asked one why he was going in, he said it's my job and there may be some of my brother officers in there. as you can see from these pictures, the amount of dust from the fire that's still burning, flames and ash is extraordinary at this point. and at least a few emergency workers have said that they really aren't so sure the other tower won't stay up now. they didn't think the first one

was capable of coming down, but it did. they are basically saying keep back as far as you can. on the other hand, facing that danger, as we have been telling you, many hundreds of these workers are heading over those lines, down to the burning building to try to rescue those people who are in there, be they emergency workers, be they civilians. >> we will go to mick. what is the latest from the pentagon? >> katie, security officials here another the pentagon have not only evacuated the building but they are clearing the entire area. security forces have reported they have received information of another plane hijacked. it is about 20 to 25 miles outside of washington, d.c. secretary rumsfeld refused to leave the building. the security officials are taking it very seriously. we are standing with secretary rum is feld security detail who

as soon as they got the report went running in to the building. we were herded away they have set up an alternative command site in the area. the pentagon has a crisis team to deal with the situation. so far, the latest reports are that another plane of some kind may have been hijacked and headed in this direction. >> we also should tell you, mick, this is tom brokaw, the faa says all international flights headed to the united states are being diverted to canada. this at a time when there is an unconfirmed report there is another hijacking. all takeoffs were stopped but planes were in the air at the time of the first two attacks in the win trade towers and then on the pentagon. >> let's look at the live pictures at the world trade center. the other tower of the world trade center has just collapsed. you are looking at live pictures of the second twin tower at the

world trade center collapsing as a result of thee crash of a plane in to its side. that i believe was the first tower that was struck this morning at 8:42 eastern time. >> you are not there. >> it is now -- >> no. >> it has now fallen to the ground. >> the profile of manhattan has been changed. there is a declaration of war by terrorists on the united states. more than 100 stories of steel an concrete -- here it is. that's a videotaped replay. >> many of the emergency work withers just happy to be alive. certainly that picture tells it all. [ female announcer ] e-trade was founded on the simple belief that bringing you better technology

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we have back at 10:30 eastern time on this not to be believed tuesday morning. you are looking at live pictures of the world trade center where a few minutes ago, within the last minute actually the second twin tower collapsed. >> this is a declaration and execution of an attack on the united states where on two symbols of capitalism the white house has been evacuated. the state department has been evacuated. financial markets have been immobilized. all flights taking off after these attacks were grounded. >> international flights have been sent to canada. >> transatlantic flights, going to canada now. there's been great chaos visited upon this country to say nothing

as you pointed out, so importantly of the still untold loss of life and it's going to be horrendous. we don't know what the exact numbers are but we can only tell you by looking at the pictures but you can guess, as well kz we can, that a lot of people will not escape. >> in '93 when the bomb blew up in the base of the world trade center, a lot of people talked about how long it took to walk down the smoke-filled stairway and you think of how many were trying to escape when the first and then second tower collapsed. >> there's a picture of manhattan and it has been attacked by terrorists at the world trade center and the damage is beyond our ability to tell you in great detail. >> let's go to pat dawson, if he can hear us. he's op the ground. >> reporter: quite extraordinary. these are the emergency workers coming back. it was about ten minutes ago we

described to you the possibility of the north tower collapsing. about five minutes after we went off the air it did collapse. we have no idea at this point the loss of life. i can tell you there were hundreds of emergency workers down there about five or six blocks. it took probably about i would say no more than 50 or 60 seconds for that dust cloud, dust and smoke to make it the five or six blocks up here and begin to envelope us. at which buoyant point we began out of the way. our cameraman put one of the captains in the car and drove him to a command post. the people you see here are pretty much all emergency workers. many of them i have seen in the last two to three minutes. quite frankly, are coming out of here and remember these are professionals. they are coming out of there looking literally stunned, in shock many of them. struggling for breath.

obviously in serious disstress. bleething problems are the biggest problems for those that manage to make it out of the area below us. you can't see much more than a block south of me right now. the world trade center probably stands ten blocks south of where i am at this moment. as you can see now, the dust is beginning to pick up here. it really depends on which way the wind blows as to whether or not we get heavy dust or not. at this point, i can tell you that in the first few minutes, emergency workers were trying basically to get out of there, to survive. you can see that written this their faces. the situation was so desperate they wanted to get out of there. now many are beginning to regroup. a couple of them asked where their commander might be. they are trying to get together and go back in there. and try to take care of the people who obviously are in serious trounl. there's no other way to describe it. the language here, at times if i slip in to language what seems a little mellow dramatic, forgive

me but this is a circumstance which is very, very difficult to describe in many ways without sounding mellow dramatic. certainly in 20 years of covering horrific events this is something i've never seen before. many of the emergency workers basically happy to be alive. that picture tells it all. many of them happy to be alive at this point. >> that was nbc's pat dawson. he is standing ten blocks from where the world trade center towers used to stand. we are looking at the collapse of one of towers. officials at somerset county airport are confirming a large plane crash 80 miles southeast of pittsburgh. officials at somerset county airport confirm the crash of a large plane north of that airport which is located 80 miles to the southeast of the city of pittsburgh. we do not know whether that crash of that plane is related to what has become an obvious

terrorist attack both here in new york city and in washington, d.c. at the pentagon. >> we want to go to jim miklaszewski at the pentagon who has more information. >> reporter: they are still clearing people from the pentagon. still security forces believe there maybe another incoming plane in the washington region. but there was a very telling dramatic moment a second ago when a u.s. air force f-16 flew very low lefts in a wide sweeping taurnd the pentagon and back over washington. as one officer standing near me, my god, they are now flying air cover over washington. a milestone in what tom has already described as a declaration of war. terrorist war against the u.s. >> let's go back and show you the pictures of lower manhattan where the situation only gets worse, not better. that is the financial district of the world and a residential and commercial area. both twin trade tower buildings now have collapsed on to the

ground. there's an untold loss of life. some heroic rescue works were down there trying to get people out of the building when the first building came down and then the second building did, as well. without any sound and looking at this there is a surreal quality, but that is the epicenter of a great, great national tragedy and a great loss of life. no question about it this morning. >> it is hard to overstate the kons kwnss of all of this. this just the beginning. we will be living with this story and dealing with the consequences of it for some time. the united states will change as a result of all of this. we already thought there was a lot of security in america at the airports and so on and there was a hijacking a the boston airport today and the consequences are on the screen this morning. >> the building began to disintegrate and we looked up and started to see elements of the building come down and it was like a scene out of "independence day."

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>> yes. so now we know the identity of two of the flights involved in today's incidents. that leaves at least one more and the report of the crash of the crash in pittsburgh is accurate that leaves two more. >> the first confirmation from united airlines confirmed one of the planes crashed in the pittsburgh area, flight 93, a boeing 757. it originated in newark bound for san francisco. no information on how many people were on board. there was a collapse obviously

not just of intelligence but airport security as well that that manyplay planes were hijacked almost simultaneously. >> we will go to bob bazell who is at st. vincent hospital. we are concerned about the people in the world trade center when these two planes crashed in to them. bob, tell me about the scene at st. vincent hospital. >> katie, the wounded are coming in great regularity now. almost every 30 seconds a ambulance pulls up. some are baddedly burned and some are dead. i have seen efrl several dead bodies going in. cardinal eagan is on the street giving last rites. may god help us many times over. there's been a call out for blood from new york hospitals. people lined up around the block and responded in enormous numbers and everyone wants to help. new york is surrealistic on the streets above lower manhattan because of the subways and commuter lines and bridges and

tunnels shut down. many people are not injure are wondering around aimlessly. in the hospitals so many are injured they have run out of gurneys and brought every office chair and put sheets over that to carry them in. an enormous amount of work. everyone off has come in. calls have gone out for specialists, plastic surgeons, burn specialists and it will be a grueling several days ahead. >> ron insana is here in the studio. ron, obviously you were downtown at some point because we see you have soot and debris on your hair and jacket. what happened? >> one of the msnbc cameramen and i were trying to get across the street to try to cover the event for nbc and we were going across the street and were not far from the world trade center building, the south tower. as we were cutting across in a quarantined zone actually the building began to disintegrate and we looked up and started to

see elements of the building come down and it was like a scene out of "independence day." it rained down and the winds were ripping through the core doris in lower manhattan. g i got in to a carer that was with open and it was night time for several minutes. >> was in the first tower. >> this is the south tower. as it was coming down -- what that looks like is mild compared to be at the center. it is pitch black for block sfwls was it smoke as well as dust. >> smoke, dust, part of the building coming down pieces of a disintegrating building coming down as well. >> after that several minutes of pitch darkness, what did you see in the streets then? >> a deep gray smoke. it looked like a nuclear winter the type of thing you see in the movies with ash all over the ground, on top of cars, on police cars on windows. i made my way to the building because it is the one light i could see and stayed there until

a few people were able to get in the vehicle. we picked up a few people. >> what were their injuries. >> one officer had a gash and he was all right and a young lady had shrapnel in her arm. i don't know if it is part of the build org glass from another building. it was the most intense frightening experience i have ever had in my life. it was literally pitch black on the streets and people were obviously inhaling a great deal of material as well. so many folks were having difficulty breathing and wearing facial masks as well. >> we have united airlines confirms that the united flight 175 from boston to los angeles is down, as well. no details yet. it's confirmed that flight 93, we believe from newark to san francisco is down. no details yet. that's the one we think went down in the pittsburgh area. i wish that we could be more specific. the information is, as you might expect, pretty chaotic.

there have been at least four airliners that have been hijacked today. >> tom, there's going to be an awful lot of scrutiny on the security in boston at logan airport because it now appears two of these flights originated there. somehow, someone managed to get on these planes and hijack them. >> this is an event, ron, we're happy to see you. >> you have no idea how happy i am to be here. >> it is a relief and then you think of the experiences of thousands of people down in the epifor center of that and where there when it occurred. our hearts go out to them. we don't know the numbers. >> and cardinal eagan outside of saint vin vent's hospital. >> the magnitude of this will go on for sometime. this is not just a national tragedy but a national security event of an untold magnitude that the country will have to deal with. the president is coming back and we are at war in affect. the country has suffered a devastating affect that will cost us in loss of life and cost us in terms of our psychological

security that we have in this country. we will have to revisit a lot of our freedoms as a result of this kind of attack and then of course the whole question of retaliation. this place remains an enormous target in the eyes of a lot of people and we are so vulnerable because of all of those things that make us great, freedoms and the security we have. but america has been changed today by all of this.